sel et sucre

Tag: dairy-free

  • Ginger Shiitake Salmon

    ginger shiitake salmon

    Growing up, I never liked salmon. Coming from a kid who loved lima beans and chicken liver, this probably seems really strange, and I can’t say exactly why I had bad associations with this classic fish. Perhaps I’d had it overcooked or under-seasoned, but whatever the reason for my previous dislike, I’ve since changed my mind. Salmon is a delicious and easy to prepare fish, and this particular method is no exception. The salmon is sprinkled with coriander (which seemed strange to me at first, but I quickly realized the lemony notes are the perfect pairing) and then broiled before being topped with a glaze including bell pepper, mushroom, ginger, and honey. The flavors work wonderfully (I can never resist anything Asian influenced!), and since the whole dish only took about half an hour to throw together, I could easily see myself serving this up for guests. And it doesn’t hurt that it looks gorgeous too!

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  • Candied Bacon

    candied bacon

    Today marks a special milestone for my blog. For more than six months, I’ve been posting here three times a week every week, and this post right here is my 100th post. I struggled trying to come up with the absolutely perfect recipe for this occasion. I wanted something I was really proud of, something unique and delicious, something salty and sweet. And when I came across this recipe, I knew it was the one. Candied bacon. Could anything be more perfect? The combination of salty, sweet, spicy, and smoky is unbelievably decadent and addictive. Not too difficult to make but certainly not an every day recipe (because it’s not every day that you use a whole pound of bacon). Only five ingredients, but still customizable – you can change the spices, use all brown sugar, or use all maple syrup for some great variations. Thanks to everyone who’s encouraged me along the way, by cooking the recipes and giving me feedback, taste testing my experiments, or just reading the blog! I can’t wait to put up another 100 posts.

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  • Balsamic Barbecue Chicken

    balsamic barbecue chicken

    There’s something immensely satisfying about making a lot of adaptations to a recipe and having it turn out exactly as you’d hoped. That was definitely the case with this balsamic barbecue chicken where I took inspiration from my char siu recipe and decided to take a similar approach by using half the sauce to marinate and the other half to baste and serve with the completed dish. This chicken is amazingly flavorful with a good tartness and sweetness to the sauce, and, as I’d hoped, the marinating time helped the chicken to absorb extra flavor and stay moist. The end result would be tasty served alongside roasted vegetables, on a bed of greens, in a sandwich, or on a pizza.

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  • Lentil Sloppy Joes

    lentil sloppy joes

    I’ve long been a messy eater. When out at a nice restaurant or eating with someone I’m trying to impress, I do my best to keep myself neat. But usually I manage to make a complete fool of myself by staining my white shirt (when will I learn to wear darker colors?) or somehow getting sauce on my nose. So it’s nice sometimes to eat something that’s supposed to be messy. With sloppy right in the name, these lentil sloppy joes give me the perfect excuse for getting food everywhere. I’m feeling strangely suspicious of ground beef these days (although I do still find it hard to resist hamburgers), so I opted to make a vegetarian (vegan even!) version using lentils instead. Economical, filling, and fun to eat, these sloppy joes taste surprisingly similar to the traditional ones and are a snap to throw together. Just don’t eat them while wearing a white shirt.

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  • Vietnamese Shrimp Salad

    vietnamese shrimp salad

    We’ve had an exceptionally mild winter in DC this year (which, as someone with a very low tolerance for cold, I’ve actually enjoyed). At the beginning of March, temperatures suddenly shot up in the sixties and seventies, and it’s been feeling like spring ever since. With trees bursting into bloom and tulips out in full force right outside my front door, I just can’t bring myself to keep eating the same hearty soups and stews I’ve been relying on all winter. So when the recipe for this Vietnamese shrimp salad found its way into my inbox, I immediately set about cooking it. Crisp carrot, cucumber, and daikon radish tossed with fresh herbs and a ginger-lime dressing, then topped with shrimp and peanuts makes for the perfect refreshing dish for spring. Most of the work here is with chopping the vegetables and herbs, and once that’s done, the salad comes together really quickly. This made for a great weekend lunch all by itself, but it could also work as an appetizer.

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  • West African Peanut Soup

    african peanut soup

    Despite my love of bacon, I’ve recently found myself cooking a surprising amount of unintentionally vegan food. Meat is sadly quite pricey (especially if you’re like me and have qualms about eating factory-farmed meat with hormones and antibiotics), so I’m turning more and more to filling meals using fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans, and lentils. And I’m surprised at the great flavors I can develop using these ingredients. Take, for example, this West African peanut soup. Mostly basic ingredients, but somehow combining peanut butter and tomato paste with aromatics and curry powder yields a nearly irresistible soup. Vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters alike rave about this soup. And this could be a great base for a number of variations – sweet potatoes or other root vegetables would be a natural fit in here, as would chicken (if you can’t resist the urge to add some meat).

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  • Maple Peanut Butter Energy Bites

    energy balls

    These energy bites are my new favorite snack. A little sweet and packed with protein and fiber, they’re perfect for staving off mid-afternoon hunger pangs (a constant problem for me) and rife with possibilities for customization. Nearly every ingredient here can be swapped out; the peanut butter can be replaced with your favorite nut butter, the ground flax seed can be replaced with more chia seeds and vice versa, any of the dry ingredients can be partly replaced with cocoa powder for a chocolate version, and the maple syrup can be replaced with honey. You can even add in some chocolate chips, chopped dried fruit, or chopped nuts. I think my next batch will use pomegranate molasses (in place of maple syrup), walnut butter (in place of peanut butter), and chopped dates. They’re so easy to make and so convenient to have around that I’m now determined to always have some on hand!

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  • Fesenjan: Persian Pomegranate Walnut Chicken

    fesenjan

    Fesenjan is a simple and intensely flavored Persian chicken stew, thick with tart-sweet pomegranate molasses and rich toasted walnuts. Pomegranate molasses is a pantry staple of mine, and this recipe relies heavily on the syrup for it’s fruity tartness which permeates the chicken as it cooks. The use of walnuts meanwhile reminds me of the cashews in my vegetable korma except the walnuts here are only ground to fine bits instead of a paste. Actually, I think I’ll try grinding the walnuts to a paste with water as in the korma recipe next time; I imagine that would work well for anyone who doesn’t want actual crunchy bits of walnuts in the finished stew (although, personally, I like the variety of textures). The spicing is very simple with a few whole cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick thrown in – many recipes actually don’t even call for these (and you’ll be okay leaving them out), but I’ve found they add a little extra depth.

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  • Turkish Red Lentil Soup

    turkish red lentil soup

    I’ve been really enjoying red lentils lately. They fall apart when cooked which can help thicken soups and stews, and they’re great at absorbing flavors. They’re a fundamental piece of this Turkish red lentil soup which tastes amazingly complex for a dish with so few ingredients. I haven’t eaten a lot of Turkish food, and I was skeptical at first of the combination of paprika, cumin, mint, and sumac, but the flavors work perfectly together. Rich and hearty but with a freshness from the herbaceous mint and tart sumac, this soup would be a great start to a meal or a filling meal in and of itself.

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  • Ethiopian Berbere

    ethiopian berbere

    Growing up in DC (home to the largest Ethiopian population outside of Ethiopia), I’ve gotten used to a city with a plethora of cheap and delicious Ethiopian restaurants. My favorite place is a mere half mile from me and offers up a vegetarian platter big enough for two or three people for ten dollars. So it’s understandably difficult for me to motivate myself to try cooking Ethiopian food. But I might not be in this city forever, and the flavorful filling stews and spongy sour bread has become somewhat of a comfort food for me so I recently decided to try my hand at making them. The very first step in cooking delicious Ethiopian food is the spicy and fragrant spice mix known as berbere. This deep red mixture is vaguely reminiscent of Indian garam masala with warm sweeter spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg playing a role on top of spicy chiles, cumin, fenugreek, cardamom, and coriander. Berbere adds a large amount of paprika to these spices for a unique and unmistakable flavor that serves as the base for many different Ethiopian stews.

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